QUICK NEWS, 9-16: THE MOST WIND JOBS; DISH SUN WITH STORAGE; NAVY LIKES ALGAE; FED MONEY FOR HYDRO ENERGY

THE MOST WIND JOBS
Fact Sheet: Policy Design for Maximizing U.S. Wind Energy Jobs
Lutz Weischer, September 15, 2010 (World Resources Institute)

"The United States could become a leader in wind energy jobs with the right policies in place…Several studies show that wind power creates more jobs than power generation from fossil fuels…[I]t creates jobs in both manufacturing and skilled scientific, engineering, and service roles. However, compared to other large regional markets for wind, the United States has yet to reach its full job creation potential…[Jobs] are likely to follow…[wind projects and] be located close to installation sites, including project development and planning, construction and installation, and operations and maintenance jobs…[M]ost of the manufacturing jobs will be local too…

"… Wind power companies tend to set up regional production hubs and create jobs in each of the major markets…[G]lobal wind turbine makers prefer to invest locally because it is a smart economic decision…[T]urbines – bulky and hard-to-transport – makes shipping expensive…[I]mporting them only makes sense if companies do not want to invest in permanent manufacturing facilities in a given market because the support policies are too unstable…[W]ith the right policies in place, more manufacturing capacity would be developed in the United States and the share of domestic components in wind turbines would continue to increase."

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"Job growth in the wind industry is driven by wind power demand. The countries that lead in wind energy jobs are those that offer a stable and predictable framework for investment in wind power generation. The countries leading development of wind energy use a range of support policies…including feed-in-tariffs and renewable energy standards…[A] price on carbon would send investors a long-term market signal and allow wind power to become competitive with fossil fuels, increasing the overall demand for turbines and equipment and thus the number of jobs…

"…[Such policies guarantee] predictable returns to wind energy investors, but do not provide a direct government subsidy. In contrast, in the United States, federal support for the wind industry has been through the production tax credit (PTC), subject to periodic renewal. In years where the PTC expired, new wind investments collapsed. Large wind markets with stable long-term financial support in the forms of a feed-in tariff, such as Germany and Spain, have seen more constant market expansions and job creation."

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"…[T]he wind industry has experienced a period of rapid growth recently, as state-level support programs have grown and Congress renewed the production tax credit from 2005 on. In 2008 alone, 55 new facilities producing wind turbines and components opened. All of the 11 leading global wind turbine manufacturers that sell a significant number of turbines in the United States now also operate production facilities in the country or plan to begin operating in 2010. The domestic content of turbines installed in the United States has risen from an average of less than 20 percent in the period 2001–2006 to over 50 percent in 2008…

"To maximize wind energy job growth in the United States, Congress should…[pass] a strong renewable energy standard, creating predictable demand for wind power…[And pass] a comprehensive climate and energy bill that sets a price on carbon, making wind power competitive with fossil fuel energy and providing wind power investors with the clear long-term market signal they need."


DISH SUN WITH STORAGE
Solar dish-turbine with CAES to deliver utility-scale CSP
Rikki Stancich, 13 September 2010 (CSP Today)

"…[T]he sheer volume of wind and solar projects currently in the pipeline has triggered renewed interest in…compressed air energy storage (CAES)…[that] makes it possible to store gigawatts of off-peak energy that can be discharged during peak demand…resolving intermittency issues…

"…[O]ff-peak energy from a power plant or renewable energy source is used to run air compressors that pump air into either storage tanks or underground caverns where it is stored under pressure. When electricity is needed, the air is expanded via turbines, to generate energy…a CAES system in Germany and Alabama Electric Cooperative’s CAES plant in the US, have been online for more than 15 years…[but] there has been little investment to date…A significant portion of the US lies on bedded salt or domal salt geology, which lends itself to compressed air energy storage…[so] it seems likely that CAES will gain ground in coming years. In the US during the first half of 2010, four new CAES projects were announced…A handful of renewable technology providers have already been working on projects that combine CAES and renewable energy for several years."

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"Arizona-based Brayton Energy LLC is one such technology provider that is supporting the development of a hybrid dish-Brayton (turbine) compressed air storage system with its partner and owner of the project SolarCAT Inc [SCI]...[SolarCAT buys] cheap off-peak power (around 4c/kw) from the utility during the night, which is used to power a compressor for storing compressed air in a chamber (an underground salt mine cavity, which are abundant in the region)…During the day, the air is delivered…to a network of 320m2 parabolic dishes, where the compressed air in the solar receiver is heated by around 230kW of concentrated solar energy…The expanded air drives a turbo-alternator, generating energy that is then sold back to the utility at a higher price during peak load times.

"The idea is to have each ground-mounted central compressor/storage system serving around 30 dishes…[T]he overall solar-to-electric efficiency is over 30%…[and the company is aiming for] 40% efficiency…The turbo-alternator’s air-cooled design provides variable speed for high part-load efficiency, while its hybrid design means it can be supplemented with fossil fuel in order to be compliant with utilities demand for ‘firm’ power generation…The zero water requirement of the Brayton engine cycle also makes the system a good match for the water scarce region."

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"Brayton Energy is simultaneously developing a standalone Solar Dish-Turbine system for SolarCAT, which uses the same dish and components, but without the CAES (essentially a solar receiver and a purpose-built microturbine). The company is also working in conjunction with SolarCAT to develop a manmade storage vessel…According to the company’s latest peer review report to the DoE, both the standalone and storage system show potential of producing power competitive with today’s fossil-fuel power plants…

"…Earlier this year, Brayton Energy’s partners, SolarCAT and Southwest Solar, procured 300 acres of land adjacent to an existing salt cavern (on top of the Luke salt dome), within the Phoenix metropolitan market. The site is suitable for installing a 100MWe (peak) generating system, while the adjacent salt caverns can provide roughly 1 GWh energy storage capacity…The initial objective of the project, which is partially funded by a US$2.3million US Department of Energy grant approved in 2008, was to deliver energy at a price of 7.5 to 10 c/kWh…While the project completion date was set for December 2010, the timeline has been delayed by testing on the dish, which in turn has delayed testing on the receiver and power conversion unit (PCU)…[They] are now looking at around 2013…"


NAVY LIKES ALGAE
U.S. Navy buys 20,000 gallons of algae fuel
Candace Lombardi, September 15, 2010 (CNET News)

"Algae biofuel producer Solazyme…delivered 20,000 gallons of algae-based shipboard fuel to the U.S. Navy.

"Solazyme's Soladiesel Renewable Naval Distillate fuel will go toward the Navy's ambitious goal of getting 50 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.
But algae fuel is not just useful for the Navy's ships."

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"This past summer Solazyme also delivered 1,500 gallons of algae-based jet fuel to the U.S. Navy for testing. If testing goes well, Solazyme's algae-based advance biofuel could be powering some of our nation's military aircraft…[and] signed a contract with the Department of Defense to deliver an additional 150,000 gallons of algae-derived advanced biofuel by 2011.

"In addition to garnering more military contracts, the company also raised $52 million in series D funding in August, and counts Morgan Stanley and the Chevron's venture arm among its investors…"

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"In 2009 the not-for-profit Center for Naval Analyses issued a report signed by 12 former U.S. generals and admirals that concluded the U.S. military's dependence on not only foreign oil, but also natural gas and an unreliable electrical grid, is jeopardizing U.S. national security.

"The report asserted that much of the fuel purchased by the U.S. military was essentially a transfer of wealth to countries associated with terrorism, and, therefore, the U.S. was indirectly financing both sides of the terrorist conflict. It recommended increased use of alternative fuels and electric vehicles, which the Department of Defense had already been actively pursuing, as part of a proposed solution."


FED MONEY FOR HYDRO ENERGY
DOE awards millions for marine and hydrokinetic energy technology
September 10, 2010 (HydroWorld/PennWell)

"…$37 million in [federal] funding [is attended] to accelerate the technological and commercial readiness of emerging marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies, which seek to generate renewable electricity from the nation's oceans and free-flowing rivers and streams.

"The 27 projects range from concept studies and component design research to prototype development and in-water device testing. This unprecedented level of funding will advance the ability of marine and hydrokinetic energy technologies to contribute to the nation's electricity supply…"

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"The nation's ocean waves, tides, currents, thermal gradients and free-flowing rivers represent a promising energy source located close to centers of electricity demand. The Department of Energy is working with industry, universities, national laboratories and other groups to develop technologies capable of harnessing these resources to generate environmentally sustainable, cost-competitive power. The Department of Energy will leverage private sector investments…by providing cost-shared funding to industry and industry-led partnerships…

"Ocean Power Technologies, Inc…will deploy a full-scale 150 kW PowerBuoy system in the Oregon Territorial Sea and collect two years of detailed operating data…"

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"Ocean Renewable Power Company…will build, install, operate and monitor a commercial-scale array of five grid-connected TidGen devices on the sea floor in Cobscook Bay off Eastport, Maine, in two phases over three years. The project will advance ORPC's cross-flow turbine tidal energy technology, producing a full-scale, grid-connected energy system and will gather critical technical and cost performance data …

"Public Utility District No.1 of Snohomish County (Everett, Washington) will deploy, operate, monitor and evaluate two 10-meter diameter Open-Centre Turbines, developed and manufactured by OpenHydro Group Ltd, in Admiralty Inlet of Puget Sound. The project is expected to generate 1 MW of electrical energy during periods of peak tidal currents with an average energy output of approximately 100 kW…"